Queen guitarist Brian May has revealed that he recently suffered a “health issue.” In a video posted on his website today, the musician explained how he suffered a minor stroke that left him losing control of his arm.
“I’m here to give you some good news first of all, I think,” May said in the video. “The good news is that I can play the guitar after the events of the last few days and I say that because there was a bit of doubt because of that little health hiccup I mentioned about a week ago and what they called a mini stroke and all of a sudden – out of nowhere – I had no control of that arm. So it was a bit scary, I have to say. I’ve had fantastic care and attention from Frimley Hospital, where I went. The blue lights flashing, everything.”
He added that he is fine now and has been told to “do absolutely nothing.” May, who filmed the video outdoors with a plane flying overhead, said: “I am restricted. I am not allowed to go outside. I am not allowed to drive, I am not allowed to fly, I am not allowed to have a very high heart rate, I am not allowed to have planes flying over me, which would stress me out. But I am fine.”
The musician explained that he chose not to disclose his stroke at the time to avoid sympathy. “Please don't do that because it will fill up my inbox and I hate that,” he said.
May previously suffered a heart attack in 2020 that left him “very close to death.” It was part of a complex medical ordeal for the guitarist, who was rushed to hospital after tearing his gluteus maximus muscle in what he called a “freak garden accident.” The incident left May in debilitating pain that baffled his doctors. “No further testing was done,” he said in an Instagram post. “Now, a week later, [I was] “I'm still in agony. I mean, real agony. I wanted to jump at one point. I couldn't believe the pain.”
“In the middle of the back pain odyssey, I had a little heart attack,” he confirmed. “I say ‘little,’ you know — it didn’t do me any harm. It was about 40 minutes of chest pain and tightness in the arms and this sweaty feeling.” The musician has since returned to touring, though he said at the time that the incident brought him “very close to death.”
Last year, King Charles III knighted May for his contributions to music and charity. The guitarist posted a picture of himself holding the ceremonial sword on his shoulders, writing that he was “at a loss for words” to describe the honour.
